Crazy 2wd to 4wd conversion and 4wd to 2wd on the other truck, suggestions welcome

Here's the deal. I've got 5 kids so I need my crew cab truck. Here in Ohio it's hard enough to find crew cabs, let alone diesel 4wd crew cabs and I definitely wanted an IDI truck so I got this one about a year ago. The problem is two fold, first I often haul heavy in the bed so a dually conversion has always been in the cards. I also have a steep drive and getting my truck out this winter as well as around town was let's just say an exercise in patience. Anyway I've found a really nice standard cab 4wd dually (89) with a gas engine. I have a the old 6.9 with a blown head gasket from my truck. My plan is to swap the front and rear axles and suspension between the two trucks then convert the 89 into a 6.9 4spd 2wd truck that my neighbor wants to buy to run WMO in for a work truck. I've seen plenty of threads on converting to a D60 front end but never the other way. I'm assuming the engine swap is rather straight forward other than wiring and changing out the tank pickups. I'll be doing a bed swap as well so I'll be able to get at the tops of the tanks. I'm a skilled welder and fabricator as well as machinist so I can make what I need to do this conversion. My questions are do any of you guys have any input? What about the in tank pumps for the gas engine, could I regulate them and use them as lift pumps? Or maybe just remove the pump part and put in a Hutch mod style pickup but keep the senders? Any suggestions on the engine wiring? I've got a GP harness and solenoid. I plan to just use the 351 alternator but swap to v-belts or swap alternators if need be. I can use the coil signal to activate the FSS. I suppose I could copy the simple harness on my truck for that matter. Here's a list of parts I have for the diesel conversion:

6.9 engine with rebuilt IP

T-19 trans with bell housing, flywheel, and clutch

Slave and master clutch cylinders

Y pipe

F body oil cooler and exhaust manifolds (7.3 was a van engine)

motor mounts

trans mount

instrument cluster

GP harness and relay (will go push button, no controller)

Anything I'm missing? Comparing the trucks side by side it looks like all I have to do is grind the rivets off the factory brackets and bolt them onto the other truck(s). Seems like every thing will bolt up. I might weld the brackets after bolting for extra strength, to be determined.

The idea is to end up with two good trucks, mine the way I need it and a nice light 1-ton for him to haul his stuff (telecom installer) and save on fuel costs. Any help or constructive criticism would be greatly appreciated.

Re: Crazy 2wd to 4wd conversion and 4wd to 2wd on the other truck, suggestions welcom

Going to have some time wrapped into the 2wd swap portion but it's not out of the question. I've done it before & 3 people & a few floor jacks are in order. Another thing to note, if you found a reg cab dually 4x4 it's most likely a cab & chassis. The front axle will work on a pickup frame but the rear axle will be too narrow. If you want to convert your pickup into a dually you will need the rear 10.25 out of a pre-97 F350 pickup dually.

Re: Crazy 2wd to 4wd conversion and 4wd to 2wd on the other truck, suggestions welcom

The pickup I found is already a dually conversion so it has the correct axle. The front D60 is not the dually type. I'm hoping that down the road I can convert it to a factory dually front or just run adapters so I only need one spare tire.

Re: Crazy 2wd to 4wd conversion and 4wd to 2wd on the other truck, suggestions welcom

This project is accomplishable, and more so with your welding skills! I am not the worlds best welder, and it takes a basic understanding of the components to do the swap!

You can check out my thread in the "Project" section under "OBS gas to diesel swap, and 4wd". I have a 94 CC Dually that came with a 5.8 gasser, that I dumped, and converted to a 97 DIT Diesel. I also added 4wd onto my 2wd dually. I used the typical D-50 axle, and D-60 Dually hubs. The Dana company has been great about their parts crossing over, lol!

Re: Crazy 2wd to 4wd conversion and 4wd to 2wd on the other truck, suggestions welcom

Quote:

Originally Posted by diesel_brad

I wouldnt count on that. The conversion companys liked to use adapters, not true dually axles

No this one had a rear dually axle added by a prior owner. Definitely no adapters and the frame is definitely a pickup frame. I'll likely run adapters in the front though. Probably make my own in my shop.

Re: Crazy 2wd to 4wd conversion and 4wd to 2wd on the other truck, suggestions welcom

Quote:

Originally Posted by Southwest Dually

This project is accomplishable, and more so with your welding skills! I am not the worlds best welder, and it takes a basic understanding of the components to do the swap!

You can check out my thread in the "Project" section under "OBS gas to diesel swap, and 4wd". I have a 94 CC Dually that came with a 5.8 gasser, that I dumped, and converted to a 97 DIT Diesel. I also added 4wd onto my 2wd dually. I used the typical D-50 axle, and D-60 Dually hubs. The Dana company has been great about their parts crossing over, lol!

Excellent thread, thank you. Here's some pictures of my work, a 1940's Gilson Bros. cement mixer. I built and entire new frame for it with interchangeable pintle or 2" ball hitch, removable draw bar, repowered with a 6.5 Honda engine. The whole project took me about two weeks of evenings from concept to primer, then about a week to get the paint done decently.

Not trying to brag but projects like this don't scare me in the least. I just want to make sure I've got it all planned well from the beginning because from start to finish on my truck I'll only have a week, then another week or two on the other truck.

Register Now

In order to be able to post messages on the PowerStrokeNation : Ford Powerstroke Diesel Forum forums, you must first register.
Please enter your desired user name, your email address and other required details in the form below.

User Name:

Password

Please enter a password for your user account. Note that passwords are case-sensitive.

Password:

Confirm Password:

Email Address

Please enter a valid email address for yourself.

Email Address:

Registration Verification

Enter the first character in the word "Powerstroke".

Insurance

Please select your insurance company (Optional)

Log-in

User Name

Remember Me?

Password

Human Verification

In order to verify that you are a human and not a spam bot, please enter the answer into the following box below based on the instructions contained in the graphic.